“It was such a bad idea!” Joo Hyun reminded herself over and over again. Why, God, oh why, did she had to meet her cousin when she already knew the truth? Why did she had to see the way the beautiful necklace shined in the sunlight, the same necklace she found in her lover’s pocket?

Even though she was suspicious of their relationship ever since she introduced Luhan to her cousin, Joo Hyun'd always chose to deny everything and act like she didn’t know.  She sat on a bench that was close to the hospital her cousin, Yoona, worked, and sighed, trying to hold back her tears.

She didn’t understand why her? Why did her cousin have to have an affair with her boyfriend? Yoona was beautiful, successful and smart; she could get any man on his knees, so why Luhan? The young woman shook her head, trying to get rid of those bad thoughts and control herself from walking back to Yoona and slap her in order to remind her where her place actually was.

No.  No. Joo Hyun could do better than that. Her mother wouldn’t approve if she’d act like that. After all, she would stick to her original plan—to wait for Luhan and Yoona to admit their dirty relationship and ask for forgiveness.

Joo Hyun knew that, against her cousin, she would definitely lose—Yoona was sophisticated and successful, with beautiful eyes and a charming smile, ready to experience new stuff while Joo Hyun was mediocre and rational, overthinking everything, choosing to stay home and rather read a book than climbing a mountain or other spontaneous stuff. She was wishing she would never get to the point where Luhan would have to choose between them--she just hoped he would realize his mistake and come back to her.

She was awoken from her train of thoughts, when a person set right beside her, his eyes studying her features. With an irritated glare, she looked up ready to scold the random person when she froze like a statue, her voice living her; the man beside her had a sweet smile that reached his beautiful and alluring brown eyes, dark amber hair that was sticking in all directions due to the wind.

He was absolutely stunning, almost like an angel, making her stop breathing for a moment. When a giggle escaped his lips, making Joo Hyun’s jaw tightened – if his face was dazzling than his voice was even more alluring— she realized how pathetic she looked with her make up smudged around her eyes and blood shot eyes not from crying but from anger.

Clearing she raised up from the bench, wanting to go as far as possible from there, when she was stopped in her track, the man’s hand slightly gripping her wrist. With a sigh she turned around ready to yell at him when she was rudely interrupted by him.

“Why is a beautiful young woman like you crying all alone in a deserted place like this?”

Joo Hyun didn’t know what exactly made her do what she did; maybe it was the concern in his voice or maybe it was the fact that nobody asked her what was troubling her in a while that made her bury her head in his should and cry like there was no tomorrow.

The stranger only hugged her, not asking a single question, not minding that his shirt would be later be wet and dirty because of her makeup- all he wanted was her to be okay and Joo Hyun couldn’t ask for more.

~~~~~

“I am so sorry. I have no idea why I broke down like that” Joo Hyun said ashamed. She quickly glanced at him and her eyes almost popped out when she saw his white shirt. “Oh my god, I am so, so sorry! I promise I’ll clean it” She was so screwed—not only she had meet her arch enemy but  she cried in front of a random person, made a fool out of herself and on top of that, she dirtied his shirt. Great! Her day couldn’t get better, now could it?

“It’s okay, no need to worry. Now, why don’t you sit and tell me what’s wrong?”

Joo Hyun looked skeptical at him- why would she talk about her problems with a total stranger? But she couldn’t help but feel like she could trust him; a bad person wouldn’t have such a sweet and kind smile.

Sighing, she did as she was told and gathering her courage, she opened up and talked for the first time about her worries.

“My…my boyfriend of 4 years is cheating on me with my cousin. With my freaking cousin and the worst part is that they don’t even hiding, like they’re thinking I’m so stupid and I didn’t notice anything, that I didn’t notice that she’s been visiting me more- every time I’m not at home, that they’re close with each other, that they have nicknames when we never called each other anything else than our names and that they often go out on friendly meetings.”

A single tear escaped her eyes as she spoke about it. It wasn’t the fact that it hurt her since she had already accepted the fact but that a mere stranger cared so much for her, ready to listen to her miserable life story.

“How long has this been going?” the man beside Joo Hyun asked in a strangled voice, trying to control himself from calling the man that hurt her names.

“Hmmm…. For about 1 year and 3 months?” She chuckled bitterly.

“What keeps you tied to him?”

And without hesitation, Joo Hyun replied as if she was prepared for this question “Love, I love him”

Turning her head to her right he looks straight in to his eyes and with a cute smile asked. “What’s your name, good stranger?”

“Call me Pororo” the man got up and laughed at her expression.

“What the? Your real name”

“When time comes, I’ll tell you. If you ever want to talk about anything, here’s my number. Just give me a message and I’ll wait for you here”

And with that, Joo Hyun was left dumbfounded on the bench with a paper on her hand.

~~~~~

The next day, Joo Hyun was nervous and at the same time confused- she really loved his company and the way he listened to her but he was a stranger, and even though she knew that, why did she still wanted to meet him.

After 2 hours of walking in circles, she decided to send him a message when and where to meet, in order to see if he was actually serious.

And to her surprise he got there earlier than her, with the same smile on his face and twinkle in his eyes.

This time, the two of them got to know each other better—Joo Hyun found out that Pororo (she still laughs every time the word comes out of ) was a young student at Yonsei University, same age as her but he was her oppa by a few months. He wanted to become a musician, to compose songs for his future wife and share a part of him with the world through music. He came from a modest family and was a single kid. He had a dog that he had always considered to be his brother from another moment (thing that brought a rare smile to Joo Hyun’s face) while Pororo found out that he was her oppa (thing that made him feel like he was on cloud nine), she came from a modest yet warm family and was a single child just like him. But the next thing that he found out about her made him so mad that he had to hide his hand from her view because of the shaking— when he asked what her dreams are she said she doesn’t have any; ever since she was little her family always wanted what’s the best for her thus making her study and be perfect in everything. Her boyfriend didn’t want her to be away from here so her plans on going abroad and study were crushed in a few seconds.

She had always wanted to be a garden designer but her family wanted her to be a lawyer.

“Now, that I think about it, I’ve never lived for myself but for others. Huh, I really am pathetic”

“Don’t say that. You’re just selfless; you always put the others in front of you. Joo hyun, you should really try to do things you like”

The woman only smile and returned to look at the flower.

“What ties you to him?”

“Love”

Once again, Joo Hyun replied without hesitation, making Pororo shook his head and close his eyes enjoying the week sun.
 

~~~~~

For the next 2 months, they met every day in the same place, going out to eat or play, learning more and more about each other. The man still called himself Pororo and Joo Hyun never really asked his name. Even though every “date” was filled with happiness, every single one ended with him asking the same question and her responding like a robot with the same answer; in this field, nothing changed.

Today was like any other day—they met up at the same place, they ate what Joo hyun prepared and joked about silly things, discussed what bothered them and finally got up and explored the town.

The first location they visited was a small coffee shop to grab a cup of hot chocolate. They chose a table at the window and admired as the cherry blossoms fell in silence.

After that, they entered Lotte World and acted like little kids—thing that was unusual for Joo Hyun—, riding everything they could. Unfortunately, the mood was ruined when they bumped into Luhan and his mistress, Yoona. To his surprise, Joo Hyun had a calm yet irritated look on her face (probably because her date was ruined) and asked with a hostile voice what they were doing here when Luhan had an important meeting.

Pororo had to stop himself from laughing when Luhan began and tried to find an excuse, his face became red because of the fear of being caught. He stopped struggling when he noticed the unknown man beside his girlfriend.

“Joo Hyun, who is this? I haven’t met him before, have I?”

“An old high school friend. Now, if you excuse us, we have a date”

With a smudge look on her face, she grabbed Pororo’s arm and dashed through the crowd, trying to get lost from Luhan that was screaming after them.

~~~~~

“Have we lost them?”

“I think so”

Joo Hyun was leaning on a sakura tree while Pororo was drinking some water, the effort a little too much to stand as his hand began to shake and had difficulties breathing and yet a little luck, the woman didn’t notice a thing.

When Pororo got up, he walked towards Joo Hyun, a kind smile present on his face, just in time to hear her letting out a sigh of admiration. As he looked in the direction her eyes were adverted, the same sigh escaped his mouth too, in awe and surprise: the sakura flowers were falling- even though dancing was a better word to describe the show.

They stood like that for a few moments before the man broke the silence and asked her the same question.

“What ties you to him?”

It almost seemed normal and he was waiting for the same answer when he realized she was hesitating.

“Nothing….absolutely nothing” Joo Hyun whispered, making Pororo’s eyes widen.

After her answer resonated a few time in her head and understood what she said, she faced him with a big smile on her face, jumping like a child and yelled.

“Oh Lord! Nothing ties me to him! I’m free, Pororo! I’m free!”

The man began to jump just like her and hugged her, burying his head on the croak of her neck.

“Pororo, I have to go! I swear to God that I’ll meet you here tomorrow”

Joo Hyun began to run, her eyes failing to observe as the man fell to the ground, his hand clutching the spot where his heart was supposed to be whispering for help.

She was already too far away.

~~~~~

Things flied through the room as Luhan tried to calm his girlfriend down. Yoona wasn’t going to accept the fact that Joo Hyun was so calm about their relationship—she should’ve cried and ask “what’s the meaning of this?” not run away with a handsome guy.

It wasn’t that she hated Joo Hyun—it wasn’t like that at all—more like she envied her: she was loved by her parents even though she was their puppet (at least they cared for her in a way not like her parents), she was always liked by most of people while Yoona had to act like an innocent little child.

Luhan was a good guy but wasn’t really her cup of tea; she chose to date him behind Joo Hyun’s back just to see her pretty little face painted with tears, and the fact that she was okay with it didn’t appeal her at all.

Not even a little bit.

~~~~~

Joo Hyun ran as fast as she could, ignoring the honks and yelling people as she cut her way through, her house getting closer and closer. Once she realized she was always free to leave, she couldn’t hide her excitement-she could start anew with Pororo by her side.

When she reached the front door, she opened it with such force that it banged on wall, startling her parents and Luhan along with his mistress.  She ran to her room she was sharing with her lover and got a bag, not too big nor too small, and began to stuff her clothes in it.

After the luggage was prepared, she picked it up and went to the living room where her family was gathered with a confused look on their face.

With a wide smile on her face, she took a breath and spoke with a cheerful voice, as if the answer wasn’t scandalous and at all.

“Luhan, I already knew you were meeting Yoona behind my back for a long time but it’s okay, really. You’re free to date now. My dear cousin, I want to tell you that I’m not mad at all and that I understand you. Mom, dad, I’m going to change my university and study something that I actually want to not what others expect me to like.”

The silence that took over the room was thorn by the loud sound Joo Hyun’s mom hand made contact with her cheek.

~~~~~

“Emergency, emergency! Doctor!” Doctors and nurses rushed toward the patient that was on verge of death, his heart slowly giving up.

“My boy! Oh, dear Lord, my boy! Joo Myun-ah! Doctor, please!” A desperate woman kept crying and yelling, the atmosphere getting more morbid than it was before.

The said boy shed a tear as he send a message. He had ended his mission. He was ready to face death with a smile on his face.

~~~~~

“Mom, you can’t do this to me! I’m big enough to choose the right path!” Joo Hyun punched and kicked the door as tears poured on her face.

“You’re going to stay there till you’ll come back to your senses.” Her mother said as she closed the door, not minding the desperate cries of her daughter. After all, momma knows the best.

Joo Hyun fall on her knees, blaming herself for all this. She should’ve run or something when her mother stood up and yelled at her. “Why, oh, why was she such an idiot?”

~~~~~

She didn’t know how long she’d been there, beside the door with her arms wrapped around her legs, her fingers playing with her favorite handkerchief and her hair hiding her face.

The silence was broke when a stone hit the window, getting her attention. With curious eyes she got up and moved to the window, trying to see the source of the sound. When she saw there was no one she was ready to get back to the door and sulk but she realized why the person threw a stone at her window- to make her realize she could jump down and run.

With a wide smile she quickly got her luggage and opened the window, throwing it first before she jumped down, landing graciously on the ground.

The moment she touched the grounds, she started running, her heart almost exploding with happiness. Unfortunately, her glorious moment was broken when she saw her parents exiting the house, following her. She could almost imagine the fight they were going to have so she prepared herself for another round of slaps, only to feel nothing against her cheek.

Curious, she opened her eyes and to her surprise, Yoona and Luhan were holding her parents, helping her escape.

 “Run, dear cousin, run! “

“Joo Hyun–ah! Please be happy! I’m so sorry! I just hope that someday, I’ll be able to get your forgiveness.”

With tears in her eyes, she gave them a nod and started running again, not once looking back. She got her phone and sent Pororo a message, telling him to meet her at their usual place.

Finally, she was free.

~~~~~

She arrived at their usual place in 1 hour, which is admirable since it usually took her 2, and began to look for Pororo only to find out she was alone. Worried, she took out her phone and was ready to give him a call, when an audio message arrived.

Looking at the sender, she saw his name and with quick movements she opened it.

/ Dear Joo Hyun. No, wait, that . Can we start from the beginning? / A giggle escaped her lips—he will forever be clumsy.

/ So for start, I just want to tell you that this friendship was the best thing that happened in my life. You made my last months of living fantastic. / Last month of living? Joo Hyun was really confused and a frown graced her beautiful face.

/ We met before, you know? Almost every time you visited you cousin, I was always there, watching you from afar, sad that you were so hurt. The best thing I could do was to stay with you and make you realize that you can put an end to all this. If this message was sent, then that means I’ve completed my mission. That also means I’m dead. /

After the unexpected news, there was a pause, silence taking over the place. “I must’ve heard wrong. There’s no way that could happen, right?” Joo Hyun tried to convince herself.

/ Don’t try to come to my funeral; my family won’t let you pass. Please, fulfill my last request; I want you to remember me alive, not dead in a coffin. I really hope everything will work out for you, dear Seohyun.  With love, Kim Joon Myun/

/beep. Beep/

Joo Hyun dropped the telephone, as everything made sense now; he was that boy, the boy whose mother cried when she visited her cousin months and months ago, the boy that dropped his hand chief (a hand chief she still has), the boy who had a weak heart, that boy who was destined to die.

Oh, God, she was so stupid! She should’ve noticed those clear signs that something was wrong: the heavy breathing after every hard sport, the hands shaking, the color of his skin that was so, so pale, the way he grabbed the place his heart was.

He did everything he wasn’t allowed to just to see her smile again. He…he practically killed himself in order to help her. She killed him.

After the realization hit her, she finally broke down in tears, her feelings all over the place. He even called her Seohyun, the nickname he gave her after their third meeting.

Slowly, she got up, and with tears pouring on her face she headed to the road where cars seemed just illusion, she headed to heaven.  Right when a car was getting dangerously close to her, it’s headlights blinding her, Joon Myun’s face appeared in her mind, making her step back, avoiding death.

“What was I thinking?! After all he did for me, I’ll kill myself?”

After what seemed like years, she got up and picked her luggage, walking slowly towards the sunset.

The only way she could keep his memory alive, the only way she could keep him with her was to follow her dreams. And when she’d fulfill her dreams, she’s going to have others.

She’s going to keep him in her heart forever.

~~~~~

It was a hot summer day when the silence of the lake was disturbed by the heels of a beautiful woman as she walked on the pontoon bridge with a small boat made of wood with a little burning candle in it.

Once she arrived at the end of it, a smile graced her red painted lips; she began to talk with to the lake as if it was going to answer it.

“It’s been 6 years, huh? You have no idea how much I’ve missed you, how much I’ve wanted to have you beside me when the world tried to bring me down… I’m so sorry that I’ve come so late, I wanted to see you when I’ve fulfilled my dreams, just like you’ve taught me. It took me so long to find out where your ashes have been thrown and to my surprise it was at your favorite place, the lake you showed me when you taught me how to observe the beauty of the world.

You know, I still have your hand chief. “

Joo Hyun had to pause a little as tears began to blur her visions. Taking a breath, she started to speak again.

“I owe you so much Joon Myun. I still can’t forget the thing you said “Everyone is born with wings and those wings are made to fly”. 

Letting the little boat in the water, she watched it as it began to sail, further and further away.

“I was born without them, Joon Myun, because you were my wings”